Almost Lina
by Idk wat my name is
Summary: Down the rabbit hole, is it? More like down the cliffside. Now they're trapped here, with no clue who to trust. Demons, gods, overworlders and dragons... perhaps none of them can be trusted. Perhaps they can't even trust themselves... AU, but not really.
1. The Rabbit Hole? Or Maybe the Tornado

_...Eh, how do I start this? How 'bout with telling you all, I don't own Slayers. Or Alice in Wonderland. Hadn't ment for all the refrences, really. I have a Beta, but she hasn't seen this. She's currently working on a diffrent one of my works, and I was simply too impatient to wait. Sorry, Crystal._

_I am a perfectionist, and thus, hate this chapter because I had to force myself to write it. When I force myself, it never ends up too good, I think. And I am my biggest critic. _

_But then again, I'm never happy with anything I write. Gah._

_I'm planning on updating this weekly, and I have about 3-4 chapters after this one written/rough-drafted, each about 3-5 pages long. So, yeah. Please pay no heed to the collection of unfinished Pokemon stories that I've written..._

___Without further ado(SP? What the heck is a ado, anyways?)- _

* * *

Almost Lina 

The Rabbit Hole? Or Maybe The Tornado

Summer vacation, Lina decided, was a gift from the gods.

Lina stretched her arms out wide, and leaned back as far as the car seat would allow. She yawned, loud and content. She would have put her feet up on the dashboard, is she hadn't known that Zel would throw a fit. He hated distractions while he was driving.

She tilted her head to the side a little, in order to look at him from the corner of her eye. His dark hair covered his eye, but she was sure he was fully concentrated on the road in front of him. He tried to hide it, but driving on these cliff roads always made him nervous.

She snickered to herself. It hadn't been difficult to force him to come with them to the beach, despite his argument that he was too busy with his summer jobs. That was how Zel was- all work and no play, spending his free time sulking in some corner. He'd been that way ever since she had first met him. The simple fact was that he spent too much time inside, and had needed some fresh air. She noted with some satisfaction that he was now sporting a slight sunburn, a sign that he had spent some well-earned time outdoors. He might have complained at first, but she knew that he had enjoyed today.

_Pity it's over_. _I didn't get the chance to bury him in the sand._ The image of Zel neck deep in the sand popped into her head, making her snicker louder.

"Something funny, Lina?"

Lina looked over her shoulder at the blond behind her. "Oh, just picturing Zel as a sand man." She said with a grin. He just looked at her in confusion.

Gourry was the athletic, if not somewhat dim-witted, one of the group. The varsity football star had been Lina's friend ever since she had moved into the neighborhood. He excelled at sports and video games, but had difficult in school, mostly due to a bad memory. A really, really bad memory. It used to be unbearable, before his doctor gave him some medication to help him out. He hated taking it, but at least now he could follow a conversation.

Sitting next to him was Sylphiel, his not quite girlfriend. Sylphiel was nice, sweet, understanding, and anyone with any brains could tell she was in love with Gourry… anyone, that is, except for Gourry himself. Lina felt somewhat sorry for her; Gourry was just too dense sometimes. Gourry did care for Sylphiel, just not as much she would have liked.

From the far back seat, Lina could hear Amelia's light snoring. Even though Amelia was only a year younger than her, the day spent at the beach had tired the sophomore out. Lina smiled to herself. Despite her 'Justice' obsession, Amelia was Lina's best friend. She was practically her sister.

Lina's mind drifted to both her and Amelia's _real _sisters, and she involuntarily shuddered.

And then there was Pokota. Lina wasn't really sure how he had become part of their group, he just sort of appeared one day. Lina's smile turned into a frown; she and the freshman had a bittersweet relationship. At times they acted like the best of friends, at others they hated each other's guts. Such was their friendship…

Such was all their friendship. For what wasn't the first time in her life, Lina wondered about the probability of the six of them meeting and becoming friends. They weren't exactly the group that you'd normally imagine. She thought of it a moment more, before she shrugged it off and blamed in on fate. It was like destiny, almost. She wasn't one to really believe in that sort of stuff, but that didn't mean she didn't believe in the inevitable.

Looking out at the paved street before them, she yawned once again, her eyes closing on her. She had her friends, she had a wonderful day at the beach, and she had a full summer vacation in front of her. Right before sleep overtook her, the thought grazed her mind _life is wonderful_…

Then the trigger question was asked. "So, where are we going to eat?"

And all hell broke loose.

* * *

But not all was right in this world.

Above the traveling van, unseen to all were four beings that did not belong to this dimension. They were powerless here, all but one.

The first being was a dragon, made of crystal like fire.

The second was a wyvern, with body like stone and wings like marble.

The third was a snake, made of wind so fierce it looked like light.

The last was a being that was highly disturbed.

"I do not believe what we are doing is right." He told the other four. Unlike the others, he looked more or less human. In his large hands, he held the orb. "We do not know how our actions will affect this world's future."

The first being growled. "You are the last one who should complain about that, Overworlder." The dragon like fire spat. It's body glowed red, as if it held a tempest itself inside.

"We have no choice." The stone wyvern said, in a much more polite tone of voice. "If our world is to survive, it has to be done."

The crystal dragon shook his head, obviously irritated. "They are only a few humans out of billions. They will not be missed."

"You are wrong, Flarelord." This time it was the orb that spoke. It glowed a sea blue, like the ocean beneath it. "These humans have families and friends who will miss them dearly. But, I agree. To save our world, it must be done."

The Overworlder looked down at the van. He could practically see them, laughing and enjoying themselves.

"If you have any other ideas, Sirius," the orb said, "…now is the time to say it."

He could feel the stares of the three dragons. He had nothing to say.

The van was nearing a sharp curve in the road. Even though he disagreed with the plan, it would be against his nature to fight against it any longer. It was time.

* * *

"I don't care what you say; we are _not_ eating at McDonalds!" Lina yelled at the blond football player. "We're going to Taco Bell!"

"But isn't the McDonalds here cheaper-" Sylphiel swallowed the rest of what she was going to say as Lina gave her her worst glare.

"McDonalds is disgusting! Give me a good Burrito any day."

Gourry looked at the red head in confusion. "Really? I don't see what's wrong with hamburgers." In response, Lina attempted to hit him over the head, a feat which proved to be difficult when wearing a seat belt.

"Quit it, Lina!" Zel yelled at her, trying his hardest to keep his eyes on the road, "Could you be any more distracting?"

Before Lina could snap back at him, she saw something strange outside the window. She blinked once to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "What is-"

A bright light flared up in front of them. Lina was blinded, she shut her eyes instantly. She heard someone in the car scream. Zel slammed on the breaks, but it wasn't quite enough. There was a jarring impact, as they hit the railing, before a terrifying weightlessness as the car went over the edge.

"In order to save our world from destruction, the Lina Inverse of this world must die."


	2. You're Dead! Welcome to Wonderland

_...Alright then. Some things about last chapter I had wanted to say, but didn't 'cause I didn't want to end the chapter with an authors note- the last line just had too much impact. _

_Pokota- wasn't originally going to be in the story, but Kuroneko and Relm Wanders' stories converted me to PokotaxAmelia, so he's in the story. _

_Gourry meds- because, really, to have that bad of a memory, there has to be something mentally wrong with you. Don't get me wrong, Gourry's awesome. He figured out who Xellos was way before everyone else. But, really, at times he's just a bit too dumb. ...My argument sounded much more convincing in my head._

_I still do not own Slayers. I do not even own that one Slayers book I ordered who knows how long ago. It's still in the mail. Grr..._

* * *

Almost Lina Ch. 2

You're dead! Welcome to Wonderland

"Yesterday afternoon, a car holding six teenagers went over the edge of this cliff. Some witnesses state they saw a bright flash of light, but others say that the car simply lost control.

The car itself was brought up to the surface this morning. During the fall, the car remained intact. No windows were broken, no doors were opened, and even the seat buckles were still buckled in.

What has got authorities baffled is that the bodies of the six teenagers have yet to be found."

* * *

There was a dim awareness when Lina awoke that something was wrong.

Lina turned over in her bed, and buried herself deeper under the covers. She pushed the nagging feeling aside, as she tried to get a few more minutes sleep. She could afford to stay in bed late, it was summer vacation. She dug herself deeper still, trying to ignore her pounding head. Her forehead hurt, where she had hit her head on the dashboard, right before that stupid airbag blew up in her face…

All thoughts of sleep vanished from her mind.

She was up in less than a second. Images of her last moments played over and over again. She sat there for a moment, before she chuckled to herself. It had felt so real, for a moment she actually believed that she had died.

She remembered what she had seen out of the window, right before that flash of light. A huge golden boat, floating in the air. "Some dream." She muttered to herself.

But the feeling that something was wrong had returned, and this time it refused to be denied. It settled in the pit of her stomach, and spread throughout her whole body. She shivered with fear. _No_. Lina brought her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. _It was all just a dream, just a bad dream_. She'd never admit it, but at that moment, she was scared. _It's all just a dream. I'm in my room, I'm safe._

That's when she realized that this wasn't her room.

It looked a lot like her room, which terrified her even more. Same shape, same size, same wallpaper, same furniture. But behind her was a window that hadn't been there before, reveling a lush garden that she had never seen the like of. The posters she had placed on the walls were gone, replaced by images of knights and dragons. Her books had been taken off the shelves, and replaced with ancient and dusty tomes. Arcane artifacts were scattered everywhere, everything from a collection of candles on her dresser to a ten foot long tail hung across the ceiling. Even her bed was feeling comfier than normal.

But what really got her attention was across the room, looking back at her. It was a portrait of her. A life-sized portrait of her, surrounded by treasure and glowing symbols and lights, wearing strange clothes and armor. A golden aura surrounded the picture Lina, so much that it seemed to illuminate the room.

By this point, Lina was completely freaked out.

Everything was different. This was a prank, wasn't it? Someone had taken her stuff, and replaced it with these weird things. But where had the window come from? This wasn't her room. Someone must have kidnapped her, some stalker who could paint and who knew what her room looked like. Where was everyone else? She wasn't the only one who had survived the car wreck, was she? She had to find them, she had to-

_Calm down, Lina. __You'll be no help to anyone if you_ _start panicking_.

Lina breathed deeply for a moment. She waited for her nerves to calm down a moment, before she allowed herself to think.

_Alright then. I can rule this being a dream out, my head still hurts. And this seems much too elaborate for a simple prank. I have no idea if the car crash actually happened or not- if it did, then someone must have saved me. A painting stalker, apparently. No idea what to make of the picture, or the golden boat from earlier._

She mulled it over a little longer, before finally coming up with _I have no idea what's going on._

She got out of the bed, and walked towards the picture. Now that she got a closer look, she noticed a few things off. The her in the picture was older, somewhere in her twenties. And her eyes- how had she not noticed those before? Past the golden glow, the Lina in the picture had red eyes. The real Lina, as the beautiful Irish descendent she was, had green eyes.

As Lina stared into the picture, she couldn't help but shudder. Those red eyes made her look dangerous, like someone you would never want to cross paths with. In fact, the whole picture evoked a sense of peril, as if the picture-her could have demolished cities with just the wave of her hand. Whoever had painted this picture had a strange opinion of her.

Whoever had painted this picture…

Panic struck her again. What if whoever had painted her was still around? What if they were watching her this very moment? Where there cameras in the room?

She had to get out of here.

She got to the door and paused. Surely, with what's going on, the person who had brought her here wouldn't have forgotten to lock the door. If they had gone through all this trouble, after all…

She turned the knob. The door inched open with a creak.

Lina's mouth dropped open, not believing her luck. For a brief moment, the thought entered her head that the kidnapper-whoever _wanted_ her to leave the room, but the idea of staying in here with the red-eyed picture was almost too much to bear. It was just one too many crazy thing; she had to figure out what was going on.

Lina took a deep breath, before fully opening the door and stepping outside.

* * *

_...You want to know the hardest part of writing this story so far? Keeping a Lina who isn't Lina in character. I hope I did a good job._

_Didn't get as far as I wanted to in this chapter, meh. Until next time, then._


	3. Curiouser and Curiouser

_...I'm tired right now..._

_I still do not own Slayers, or the book that STILL has yet to come. Grr..._

_I'm a bit upset right now at the pace this story is going. It seems like I'm going in baby steps. Very slow baby steps. I tend to end a chapter around 3 pages, because I know that if I make them anymore than that, the size of them will overwhelm me. But still!_

_*Sighs* Alright then. To the few people who have seen this, enjoy chapter 3._

* * *

Almost Lina

Curiouser and Curiouser

The first thing Lina thought when she stepped out of the room was _I died and gone to heaven_.

The second thought involved a number of curse words and _I really _am_ in heaven!_

She was in the largest room she had ever seen in her life. She could barely see the opposite wall and the hallways to the left and right seemed to go on forever. The ceiling must have been a hundred feet up, covered with painting that would have made Michelangelo go green with envy. Gigantic marble columns that Lina could never get her arms around held the ceiling up.

And everywhere she looked, there were beautiful carvings and pictures. On the columns were feasts and celebrations. On the walls sat four great dragons, regal and majestic. On the floor under her feet were images of wars, valiant and noble dragons against bloodthirsty demons.

As she stared, the scene changed. Her focus moved to one demon and dragon in particular. The demon attacked, the dragon dodged. The demon fired a spell, and the dragon deflected it before charging. The demon was knocked back, and the dragon started to chant the finishing blow…

"I see you survived as well, Lina."

Lina blinked, missing the moment the demon was vaporized. She recognized the voice. "Zel?" She asked, not looking away from the battle before her. "What's going on?"

There was no answer. For a moment, Lina wondered if she had imagined the voice, before, "I don't know, Lina. I just don't know."

Lina had to tear her gaze away from the picture to look at him, the effect it had over her made it hard to look away. Zel looked tired. Tired and grim. Like everything was too much, and he was ready to just give up.

Given the circumstances, she really couldn't blame him.

And he wasn't alone. Stranding behind him was everybody else. Pokota and Amelia were huddled together, looking a mix of being frightened and amazed. Amelia looked like she had been crying. Sylphiel looked like she could faint at any moment, and Gourry was watching over her to make sure she didn't. He looked up at Lina, with a look that said 'please, _please_ tell me you know what's going on'. Lina's expression answered his question, and Gourry looked down in defeat.

Lina looked around the group. It was discouraging, to say the least. Six youth, lost in an unfamiliar place, with pretty much no clue about anything going on.

_Well, at least we are all okay._

"We're dead, aren't we?"

All heads turned to Amelia. She looked up sadly, tears welding up in her eyes threatening to break loose. "We died in that car crash, and now we're here. This is heaven, isn't it?"

There was silence for a moment, before Pokota gave a nervous chuckle. "Heaven? Come on, Amelia, be realistic. If this is heaven, then Lina wouldn't be here. She'd never make it."

Of course, said female turned on him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What's it sound like?"

"Are you saying I'm going to hell?"

"Where else do arrogant, selfish, _little_ girls go?"

An indignant shriek answered him. If looks could kill, Pokota would have died a second time.

Before Lina could kill him a third time (she was now keeping track in her head), Zel intervened. "Focus, you two. We need to figure this out!"

Lina glared at him, but didn't continue the fight.

He turned to the others. "Does anyone know how we got here?" Zel asked, "Besides the dying part."

Everyone shook their heads. He sighed. "There has to be a rational explanation to this."

"We're in heaven." Amelia repeted, tears now rolling down her cheeks. "We died and now we're in heaven."

Zel didn't look very impressed with her answer. "Yeah, I got that."

Lina sighed, feeling sorry for the lot of them. She looked up at the wall. A red dragon, a white one, a stone one and a blue sea serpent. The four beasts were still, unlike the beings on the television-floor. She must have imagined the sea serpent winking at her. "I always figured heaven for angels, not dragons."

Zel looked down at the floor, which by this time had stopped moving. "I was wondering about that, too. It isn't exactly what you hear about in church."

"Why don't you ask him about it?"

It wasn't what Gourry had said, but the fear in his voice that had made Lina turn around so quickly. Everyone was looking where he was pointing, not wanting to believe what they were seeing.

Heading towards them, flapping its great bat-like wings, was a huge, black dragon.

* * *

_I will admit, I am slightly addicted to cliffhanger endings. It makes me think that what few readers I have will actually stick around for more._

_Again, I appologize for the shortness/pace. I actually combined the next two chapters into one, so there's that to look forward to. If I still have you readers. *Sighs* The hard thing about coming from a very big fadom like Pokemon to a lesser known fadom like Slayers is the lack of people showing intrest. This story now has three chapters, and only one review. I feel unloved. =(_

_(Begging for reviews, I've noticed, isn't something practiced very often in Slayers fadom, but In Pokemon fadom it is very commonplace, and old habits die hard. I miss those little witty saying ment to get you to reply. That, and constructive critism. Man, I really, really miss CC.)_

_Alright, enough complaining from me. Until next week._


	4. The White Rabbit? The Black Dragon

_Bah... My Slayers book was due to come today at the latest... and it still isn't here yet. Curse you, Amazon dot com!_

_...Grr..._

_This chapter is the longest yet, just making it to the six page mark. I feel like everyone sort became OOC near the end, though, which I don't like. It was originally going to be two seperate chapters, but the second part was too short and didn't work when standing alone, even though it ends up being crucial for the story. Right at the end. Because I am addicted to cliffhangers. Sorry._

_A word of warning- my authors note at the bottom is longer than normal- because I want to inform you about two things that I've been wanting to say for a while. Please, bear with it._

_If I owned Slayers, then I'd have all the novels and I'd translate the last ones into english. Sadly, I do not, so we all loose out._

_Now, I thank you for sticking with me for the length of this Authors note, now you may proceed._

* * *

Almost Lina Ch.4

The White Rabbit? The Black Dragon

Lina's mouth dropped open. She tried to speak, but no sound would come out of her mouth.

Flying in circles above their heads was a dragon.

It descended quickly, and landed much too close for comfort. Lina and the others found themselves huddled against the wall, trying to hide underneath the crystal dragon's painted claws. The real dragon gave them a sideways glance- Lina guessed that it was probably wondering how tasty the six would be.

And then the dragon started to glow gold.

The teenagers had to squint their eyes as the light engulfed the dragon. Its shape changed, until, in the beast's place, stood a person.

He was about as tall as Gourry, if not taller. Long black hair went down past his shoulders, and two rows of horns crowned his head. His eyes were like a reptile, a color that brought the words 'honey almond' to mind. His clothes were extravagant, the kind that you imagine royalty in. Lina was fairly sure his nails and teeth were sharper than normal, and the large bat-like wings had not disappeared in the transformation.

He would have looked downright frightening if he weren't bouncing up and down and grinning like an idiot.

"It's such an honor to finally meet you, Miss Inverse!" He grabbed her hand, and started shaking it vigorously. Lina's whole body shook with the force of the handshake. "Such, such an honor. Really!"

She exchanged glances with the others. Yes, they were seeing him too.

She looked back at him. He wasn't shaking her anymore, but he hadn't let go, either. Much to Lina's horror, he was still grinning like an idiot. "Um… my hand?"

He blinked in confusion. "What?" Then he realized he was still holding it. "Oh, oh sorry!" Instead of just letting go of the hand, he literally pushed it away from him. Lina had to backtrack to keep her balance, and when the dragon realized how hard he had pushed her, he made a sound similar to a surprised parrot squawking. He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder, steadying Lina with his hand. "Really, really sorry, Miss Inverse. Really."

Lina shook the hand off. She was getting tired of the overuse of the word 'really', but something he had said struck her. Specifically, he had called her Miss Inverse. "You know my name?"

He nodded at her. "Everyone knows who you are." He said with more conviction than she would have liked. He finally seemed to notice everyone behind her. "And all the other Slayers too, of course." He added hastily.

It was Lina's turn to blink in confusion. Slayers? "Who are you? Where are we?"

The dragon-man looked confused for a moment, before his eyes grew wide. His hand flew to his head, and that motion paired with the expression on his face reminded Lina about many of the awkward teenagers at her school. "Ach! I forgot to introduce myself!"

"Terribly sorry Miss Inverse. Terribly, terribly sorry." He apologized, before straightening up; and with that one gesture his entire stature seemed to change. He became regal and impressive- similar to the picture of the dragons behind them. Gone was the awkward teenager, and in his place stood,"Cadan Al Finne of the black dragons, son of Ravv'n Al Finne and Cain Al Finne. And this place," He waved his arm at the room, "…is the sanctuary of the gods."

"The gods' sanctuary?" Zel asked, the first of the others to speak up since Cadan had arrived.

Cadan startled, staring at the teenager as if Zel wasn't supposed to know how to talk. He regained his composure for after a moment, saying, "Yes, the gods' sanctuary. It was created right after the War of the Monster's fall, in order to-"

"The war of the what now?" Gourry interrupted. "I don't remember going over that in history class."

Cadan was silent for a moment, before he chuckled. "I was warned about your bad memory, Mister Gabrieve. I'm not old enough to have been there, but the War of the Monster's fall happened about a thousand years ago, as you all know, and took place between…" The words died on his tongue when he realized that everyone else also had the same, confused expression as Gourry did.

"We have no idea what you are talking about." Lina told him, and the dragon's face paled.

Cadan's mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally got a word out. "Impossible…"

"What's the last thing you remember?" He demanded of them suddenly, "Before you woke up here."

The six paused at the unexpected question. Pokota was the one to answer, "Being in the car crash, but what…"

The dragon man staggered back. Lina had only seen from movies and television shows the signs of someone going into shock, but she was fairly sure Cadan was showing them. For a moment, Lina thought he was going to fall over, but Cadan managed to keep his balance. His whispering was just loud enough to overhear, "It didn't work…"

He looked at them with a grave expression, before it became determined and he said, "I have to tell the elders."

He ran a few steps away, tripping on his own feet, before his body was covered in golden light once again. His shape grew bigger, until he was a black dragon once more. He flapped his wings once, twice, before he was airborne and soaring away.

Lina watched Cadan fly out of sight behind one of the gargantuan columns. "I think that could have gone better. We could have gotten him to tell us what the hell we're doing here."

"How did he know who you are, Lina?" Syphiel asked her. Lina was surprised that she had lasted this long without fainting.

Lina shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea. Does anyone know why he called us Slayers?"

Everyone shook their heads. Lina sighed, they were getting nowhere.

"Well I for one am not staying around here." Everybody turned towards Zel, as he started walking away from the group.

Lina's eyes widened. "Are you out of your mind? Or did you just forget everything you ever learned about surviving when you're lost?" Zel turned back towards her, annoyed, as she started naming rules she had learned years before (she was now secretly thankful that Luna had forced her to become a girl scout).

"Staying in a group, and staying where you are is the most likely way for someone to find you."

"And if that someone happens to be a dragon?" Zel retaliated, "The last one hadn't hurt us, but how do we know it doesn't have friends that will?"

"Cadan was a he, not an it." Syphiel pointed out, "I think." Sadly, she wasn't heard over Lina and Zel's now heated argument.

"You all can do what you want!" Zel yelled at her, "But I'm not going to stay here and become some dragon's dinner." And with that, he turned around again, and started walking off.

"Fine! Be that way!" She yelled after him. "But don't come crying to me when you get yourself in trouble you can't get out of!" She glared at his receding form. "Good riddance." She muttered.

"Lina!" Said female jumped up in surprise. She turned towards Amelia, who was glaring at her with righteous anger. "You can't just expect us to stay here while Zel goes out there and-"

"Well what was I supposed to do?" She defended herself. "You know him; when he gets an idea in his head, trying to change his mind is like trying to change a rock's!"

Amelia glowered at her for a minute more, before she started running after Zel.

"Hey!" Lina yelled after her, astonished. "Amelia!"

And when Amelia went, so did Pokota. A second later, Syphiel followed uneasily, and Gourry as well.

"Oh not you, too."

Gourry looked back at her sheepishly. "Sorry Lina, but Zel had a point. Being eaten by a dragon would really suck." And then he left as well.

Lina stood where she was for a moment longer. "It's a bad idea!" She shouted for the last time. She wanted to follow them, but her stubborn pride kept her glued to the spot.

She glared up at the white dragon. "What are you looking at?" She asked it. It hadn't been looking down before, had it?

She sighed. "Stupid girl scouts." She went in the direction that the others had went.

She stopped.

She couldn't see them anywhere. It had only been a few moments, hadn't it? They couldn't have gotten that far. Did they change directions, or something? A quick look around told her that no, they didn't, and none of the columns were close enough for them to hide behind. The now familiar feeling of panic had returned.

Her friends were gone. She was now alone.

* * *

_**1)**asedwesdssso- Cadan! I'm sorry, but the truth is, I don't normally like OCs- one's I've made up or ones other people make up. I always perfer the main characters; after all, they're the reason I do fanfiction in the first place. Cadan is a new experiance(SP?) for me, because he is the first minor character I've made up for a fanfic that I've actually _adored_. I'm serious. I love him. You love him too! *IDK is promptly run over by a bus to snap her back to sanity* ...Alright, I'm better now. Ow..._

_Anyone remember the vally of the dragons episode? Way back in Next? I was watching it when I thought, 'They always talk about Golden Dragons and Ancient Dragons- why not Black Dragons? They get no love.' And thus, my big, scary, awkward black dragon was born. *hearts* Also, I have no idea where the names came from, I just came up with them._

_A quick explanation about his appearance- you know how Filia was new with her human form, and kept having her tail show? With Cadan, it isn't so much about being new, as not having enough magical power to hide his dragon-y ness. Cadan is a powerful magic user compaired to the rest of the Black Dragons, but it's still nothing compaired to the Golden dragons or the Ancient dragons._

_**2)**Now for the second thing I wanted to talk about- Shippings. I found it amusing the other day when I looked at the first ten or so stories, and mine was the only one that wasn't chategorized as romance. I try to focus more on the plot line and the human reactions to being placed in a surreal world than the relationships, but a scene coming up very soon caused me to want to clarify a few things._

_This story is rated K (may go up to K+ later, if I think it gets a bit much.), so any lovedovey stuff will remain like what you see in Disney princess movies- a light kiss on the lip if anything at all. (It also means that there are no cuss words. Did you notice?)_

_I already said that I like PokotaxAmelia. I also like GourryxSyphiel- she's just too nice to _not_ get the guy of her dreams. I'm trying to stick somewhat to cannon, though, so Gourry's a bit dense. Poor Syphy._

_That takes care of four teens, which leaves Zel and Lina, right? WRONG. I do not like ZelgaddisxLina very much, and I have no plan to put it into the story. The truth is, my favorite Slayers shipping of all times is XellosxLina, which sort of maybe plays a part in this story. (Yes! He's going to be here too! Very soon, in fact.) Also, while Filia may have a part in this story (haven't decided yet), she is NEVER going to be paired with Xellos. I do not know why, but I have come to hate that shipping. I'm sorry for any inconvinence that brings you. _

_I have no idea who to pair poor lonely Zel with, I'm just going to go with saying that not everyone gets the girl- er, a girl, in real life, and leave it at that._

_...And speaking of leaving it at that, that is all I have to say for now. Until next time!_

_..._

_..._

_...Glareing with rightous anger... heh..._


	5. Enter the Cheshire Cat

_...It's been a sucky 24 hours. First, I learned that my Slayers book is never coming- it's lost in the mail. I could deal with that._

_Then, a water bottle burst in my backpack, thoroughly soaking the notebooks that contain the rough drafts of this story, the oneshot I've been trying to write, and my biology notes. Annoying, but I was carrying my other notebook that had the rough drafts of Puppet, and managed to save it, so it wasn't as bad as it could be._

_Then finally, my flashdrive with all the final drafts of my stories deleted itself, so I lost everything. At this point, I just wanted to sit on the couch and eat a bucket load of ice cream._

_I still had this chapter and was able to post it on schedule, because I had saved it on my school computer, but everything after it is gone. I might get the next chapter by next Tuesday, but I doubt it. After I write something one time, I don't want to write it another. *Sighs*_

_So, that was a look into my life. I still do not own Slayers, unfortunately. Now enjoy-_

* * *

Almost Lina

Enter the Cheshire Cat

Her friends were gone. She was completely alone.

"This isn't funny, guys!" She yelled out at nothing. "Where are you?"

The only answer heard was a hollow echo.

Lina cursed. "Where'd they go?" Did they get abducted in the few seconds she looked away? Did one of those dragons swoop in and take them? Did they fall through the floor, into a big pit or into the moving pictures? She shook her head to rid herself of the worst case scenarios. Now's not the time to panic.

Then she heard an unfamiliar chuckle behind her.

She turned around quickly. "Hello?" No one answered, no one was there. "Guys?" She looked around for a moment, before looking up. "That wasn't you, was it?" She asked the four dragons.

More sound. Footsteps following her.

Once again, she spun around to see nothing. "Who's there?" She questioned the air, her heart beating much faster than normal.

A swish of cloth, the tapping of a staff.

_If this keeps up any longer, I'll be too dizzy to fight back _Lina thought after spinning around once more. "I'm serious! Come out right now!"

The sounds stopped. Lina thought for a moment that she was once again alone, before someone grabbed her from behind. No, wait, not grabbed- _hugged_.

"Miss Lina! How good it is to see you again!"

Her entire body went ridged, before she spun around and punched the person on the side of the head. He crashed to the floor, his cloak getting tangled underneath him and his staff falling out of reach.

"What are you doing?" She yelled at him, with a blush that anyone would have after a complete stranger hugs them. She then realized that she might not _want_ the answer to her question, so she added, "What the heck is wrong with you?"

The man sat up carefully. He sat cross legged on the floor, and looked up at Lina with closed eyes and a smile on his face. He looked nonthreatening enough, if you ignore the whole coming out of nowhere and hugging her thing. But there was something off about his appearance, something other than the closed eyes and the strange clothes that didn't look quite natural. It wasn't until he had placed a white gloved hand on the side of his head that she realized his hair was purple.

"I see that dying hasn't gotten rid of your temper." He said, rubbing the spot where Lina had hit him. "Or your right hook." He added with a grimace.

It took a moment for what he said to sink in, before "What?"

"Dying?" Lina repeated. "So this really is heaven?"

The stranger chuckled. "Hardly." He stretched his legs out, and stood up in one fluid motion. Lina was silently amazed at the amount of grace he put into such a mundane movement.

"As for what I am doing," The stranger said as he dusted himself off, "I'm here to congratulate you on coming back to life. I would have been the first, but apparently a dragon beat me to it." He sighed. "Aw, well."

Lina's mind struggled to take in the new information. "…Came back to life?" she asked, rather uneasily. The words sounded distant, something so impossible that it couldn't even happen in a dream.

The stranger nodded, still smiling pleasantly. "Yes, yes. We were all so surprised when we had heard you had died the way you did. Very unexpected. And tragic."

Lina blinked. Her responding question, 'you mean the car crash?', was promptly cut off when the stranger's expression became one of surprise. In a second, he was standing over her, staring down at her face.

"Miss Lina!" He gasped, shock written on his face. "Your eyes!"

Lina jumped back. The breath caught in her throat, but she managed to get out, "_My_ eyes?"

His eyes looked like they belonged to a beast, rather than a man. They were such an intense purple, just seeing them caused her to shiver with fear. With them open, the stranger simply did not look human.

His eyes narrowed, and his face resigned to a frown. "They're _green_." He said, drawing out the word with clear disapproval. "I liked your old eyes better. Red suited you."

Lina remembered the portrait in her room. Dangerous, frightening. She wondered if this stranger could paint. "Uh-huh." A pause, and then she finally asked, "Who are you?"

* * *

_...So instead of a cliff hanger, I just cut it off._

_*Sighs* My apologies, but, again, it'd probably be a while before I get the next chapter up. I still have my notebook of Puppet, so there is a good chance I'll still be working on that._

_Until next time._


	6. Not Quite Following It as You Say It

_...I really hadn't ment for this to wait this long. I had ment to update this next Tuesday, but I didn't know if I'd have enough time, and I figured you had all waited long enough._

_A little story- you know how last chapter I had said that my book got lost in the mail? Well, my dad's awesome. He went to a used book store, and bought me one at a fraction of the price! It was book 5, though, not book 1, but since that's the one where Xellos first appears, I was fine with that. My gosh, I'm such a fangirl..._

_This chapter actually turned out extremely well. I credit my new book and rewatching episodes of Slayers Next for that. __In this chapter, there's a point where Xellos addresses himself as 'Beastmaster'. That's not a mistake, that's a plot device._

_I will never own Slayers, sadly. I'd probably ruin it, though, somehow I was did own it. So I guess it is a bit of blessing that I don't. Now enjoy-_

* * *

Almost Lina Ch. 6

Not Quite Following It as You Say It

"Hmm?" The stranger somehow managed to look utterly confused while smiling with closed eyes. "Who am I?"

By now, Lina was extremely tired of not getting her questions answered. "That's right. Who. Are. You?"

He titled his head to the side, his smile growing wider as if he was in on some joke. "I'm me. You know that."

And as his smile grew bigger, so did Lina's frown. "No, I really don't."

"Miss Lina." He still looked friendly, but there was now a coldness in his voice that hadn't been there before. "I do not appreciate this game you're playing."

"What game?" She yelled more than asked. Everything she felt, all of her vent up frustrations at not knowing and fears of the unknown exploded out of her at once, "All I know was that I was having a good day before it all went to heck! I died in a car crash, woke up in a room that looks like mine but isn't, met a freaking dragon, and now there's you!"

She took a couple deep breaths after she finished her outburst. She let herself calm down for a moment, before she finally let herself ask the question that had been on her mind ever since she fell down the cliff.

"What the heck is going on here?"

For the first time since he had arrived, the stranger was completely silent. Even though his eyes were still closed, Lina felt like he was watching her. His grin was the largest yet, as if he expected her to start laughing and to tell him it was all a joke. But the silence progressed, and his smile started to slowly disappear.

"…You aren't Lina." He said, once his smile was completely gone. "Are you?"

She hesitated. How was someone supposed to react to a question like that? "I'm Lina." She told him.

Lina suspected that the man in front of her must have come up with the revelation that Cadan had, whatever that was. Only instead of going into shock like the dragon did, the stranger just looked troubled. He sighed sadly. "No, it appears you are not."

And before Lina could think of a suitable answer to that, his grin appeared once again and he started talking in a cheerful voice. "I guess I have to introduce myself, seeing that we are strangers. I am Beastmaster Xellos," He gave her a deep bow, "… the trickster. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Lina blinked. Now that she had a name to pin to his ever-smiling face, she didn't really know what to say. So, she said the first thing that popped into her head. "Beastmaster? That's a weird name."

There was a moment where he just stared at her, and Lina got the feeling that she had just said something really stupid. "…It's more of a title, really." He told her, "Just call me Xellos."

"Alright then, Xellos." She crossed her arms, and repeated her question. "What's going on here?"

His grin got even larger. He brought his finger up to his face. "What's going on here, would be, a secret. For now, anyways."

Lina's being tired of not knowing what was happening had not changed, so the Beastmaster's answer was less than satisfactory. "A secret?" She yelled. "Why?"

"Because it's more fun that way!" Xellos told her happily, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. That answer made her even more furious, but before she could yell at him or knock his head in, he placed a finger on her mouth and continued talking. "Dwelling on what's not known is all well and good, but don't you have something a bit more pressing to worry about?" His right eye opened a crack, allowing her a glimpse of purple. "Something missing, perhaps?"

She didn't understand at first what he was talking about, but when it did dawn on her, her eyes widened. She pushed his finger away, before demanding of him, "Where are my friends?"

"Not as far as you'd think." He turned away from her, talking as he walked. "This place, as you know, is the sanctuary of the gods. And as you can see, it is quite large."

Lina followed after him, not really knowing what he was getting at. "Yeah, so what?"

"I'm getting to that." He picked up his fallen staff, and started brushing the dust off as he continued. "The reason behind the size is, to put it simply, vanity. The gods wanted to make anyone who came here to feel insignificant, even their servants, the dragons. A perfect example of their fallen state." He said the last line with a smirk.

She raised an eyebrow. First it was dragons, now it was gods. She felt like she had fallen into a Percy Jackson book. "Yeah, so? What's your point?"

"As I told you, I'm getting to that. You should really try being more patient." Xellos turned back towards her, his perma-smile securely in place. "But while the gods wanted their place to be grand, they didn't want to wait for however long it would take for their servants to walk from one place to another. So, basically, this room," He waved his hand at it, "Actually isn't this big, and your friends just walked into a different room when you were looking away."

Lina blinked, trying to figure out this new information. "So it's just an illusion?"

The smile he gave her was like one an adult would give a kid who tried something, but failed. "It's a bit more complicated than that, but I suppose you could call it an illusion." His smile became a little warmer, and he extended his hand out to her. "Shall we go after them, Miss Green Eyes? I'm sure they're all very confused right now."

Lina raised her eyebrow at 'Miss Green Eyes', but didn't pursue it. She wasn't sure about holding hands with him, but decided it would be rude when he was helping her find the others, so she placed her hand in his. "So, where's this door?"

His hand tightened around hers. "I was thinking about taking a more direct route, actually."

She blinked. "A more direct route? What do you-"

She didn't get to finish that sentence, as the world around her disappeared, colors swirled around her, and she felt, for the second time in 24 hours, a terrifying weightlessness as they both disappeared.

* * *

_I most likely won't get the next chapter done by next Tuesday, as this is a Saturday, but maybe the Tuesday after next. Not sure, though._


	7. The Land of Monochrome

_...Alright, I will be the first one to admit the first six paragraphs are weird. The truth is, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to add in Lina's trip through the astral plane or not, but I decieded that I would, because it gives hints to the storyline and because it brings up a question that I thought was obvious before, but wasn't. Hnn.._

_Next update will probably happen on time, but might not because of Portal 2 (WHEATLY!) and because I'm working on another project. An awesome project. An awesome project that's being Beta'd that's really, really big that document manager won't let me upload for some reason..._

_All I own is a Slayers novel and an imagination that's full of plot bunnies. Now, onto-_

* * *

Almost Lina

The Land of Monochrome

All the swirling colors vanished, whites and grays took their place; and there was a moment, right after Xellos had made the world disappear that Lina could feel everything.

She could feel all life within the gods' sanctuary. In this strange world, they were like lights. There were many creatures moving from place to place- but three stood out. They were huge, much brighter than everything else. They were for the most part white, but had varying shades of gray hidden deep within them.

Leading her through this strange land of monochromes was a large, black cone. It looked out of place; everything else, the lights, this place, were all almost completely white. Something so black and dark just didn't belong. She had the sudden, almost childish urge, to point this out to it, but she didn't know how to speak here, and a voice from the back of her mind told her that it already knew.

It lead her to five other lights, so small compared to everything else that she didn't even see them until they were practically on top of them. But, unlike everything else here, they weren't just black and white. They were colorful.

_These are my friends_ Lina realized. It made her wonder if her light was colorful, too.

And she swore that she saw a streak of white appear and disappear on the black cone, before it dropped her back into reality.

There was a jolt as the world around her suddenly went into focus, and it felt as if the wind had gotten knocked out of her. All the normal colors came back, along with a loud commotion. Someone screamed practically in her ear, and the sudden talking let her know that she had taken everyone by surprise.

"What the- Lina!"

"Where did you…"

" You came out of nowhere!"

She blinked, trying in vain to get her vision to focus. She felt completely disoriented. She could barely hear Xellos over the commotion, "My apologies for the rough trip, Miss Green Eyes. Traveling through the astral plane in this place is difficult."

She lost her balance; someone caught her before she hit the ground. Finally, everything around her stopped swimming. Lina looked back at the person currently holding her up. "Gourry?"

The blond nodded. "What happened? You disappeared, and then, you un-disappeared." And he said it with completely serious, too.

"And who's this?" Zel asked, pointing at Xellos.

The Beastmaster's smile dimmed a little. "So it seems that Miss Green Eyes isn't the only one that doesn't remember me. Is it just you two, or is it all of you?"

The six teens exchanged confused looks. When everyone's eyes rested on Lina for an explanation, she shrugged to show them she was as confused as they were.

Xellos seemed to pick up on this. "Pity." He sighed.

Lina finally felt well enough to stand up on her own, so she did. Right after that, Amelia gasped.

She pointed at the Beastmaster, clearly shocked. "Your- your hair!"

He looked confused. "What's wrong with my hair?" Xellos asked, taking a strand near his face and looking at it. "Split ends?"

Of course, like in any situation where someone points out something so amazingly obvious and it is missed entirely, Lina wasn't amused. "She means it's purple." She told him, annoyed. "That's just not natural."

Xellos actually looked insulted. "Maybe not where you come from, it's much more common here. Please don't touch it." This last comment was aimed towards Amelia, who had inched forward and was reaching her hand out to touch it. She quickly hid the offending hand behind her back.

"And where is here?" Zel asked.

"Mister Zelgaddis." The Beastmaster shook his head, smiling that same adult-with-failed-kid smile he gave Lina earlier. "You were already told that this place was the sanctuary of the gods. Why would you ask something you already know?"

A look of anger crossed Zel's face, but then he realized what he was called. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

Xellos paused, before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh dear. In all the excitement, I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? No matter. I am Beastmaster Xellos." He said, before once again bowing. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Beastmaster?" a small voice asked from behind Gourry. She was so quite before; Lina had forgotten that Sylphiel was there.

"It's his title." She told her.

Sylphiel came out into the open a little. "What sort of job gives you a title like Beastmaster?" she wondered aloud.

Xellos' smile disappeared. "One I would rather not have." He said sadly.

The six teens weren't really sure how to respond to his cryptic answer, or his change in demeanor. But then his smile returned, and he said, "I'm sure you all have a million questions to which I will answer that's a secret. But while we are wasting time with that, would you like something to eat? I'm sure the gods' servants have already fixed something for you, given that you haven't had anything to eat since your 'death'."

In response to his offer, nearly all of the teenager's stomachs growled simultaneously. "I'll take that as a yes." Xellos said, his smile unnecessarily large. "Follow me." He turned and started walking away.

"Did he really mean that?" Lina jumped slightly at the voice in her ear. Amelia had come up to her, and was currently looking very worried. "'Since our death'? So we really are in heaven?"

Lina shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, not heaven. He told me we died earlier, but he said this wasn't heaven."

"I don't trust him." Zel said, speaking softly so the Beastmaster wouldn't hear him.

Except that he somehow did. "Suspicious of people like always. Even death couldn't change you." Zel glared at the purple haired man, who grinned in response.

Lina's stomach growled again, a reminder that she really wanted the food that Xellos was offering. She was the first to walk after the Beastmaster. "What, no trip through the black and white?" She called after him, receiving puzzled looks from her friends.

"As I told you before, traveling through the astral plane here is difficult." He told her, somehow sounding cheerful and annoyed at the same time. "It was challenging enough carrying one person, but six is too much even for me. So, no teleporting."

_Carrying one person…._ It was those words that made her realize that the black cone that lead her through the gray world must have been Xellos. It was rather obvious now that she thought about it. But compared to her friends, whose lights were colorful, and the other lights in the sanctuary of the gods; it made her wonder if their guide was something other than human. And if he wasn't, then what was he?

"Now," He said again, "Follow me."

* * *

_Two things I want to say about my story, that wouldn't fit in the chapter without sounding out of place._

_The whole Zel asking about where they are- I figured that he figured that there was more to this world than just the god's sanctuary. Xellos knew this- but decided to degrade him anyways._

_The second thing- Xellos' hair. I always imagined that if you met Xellos in real life (I am such a dork) that his hair would either be black, like in the novels, or be a natural-looking purple. By natural-looking, I mean that it would be purple, but not look any stranger than black or brown hair, like purple hair was a normal thing. Yup._


	8. The Golden People

_...You know, there are reasons why this is so late. But every time I try to type them, they just turn into excuses. So!_

_This chapter... I don't like this chapter much at all. It just kept on getting longer and longer, but not better. Hey, at least I updated._

* * *

Almost Lina Ch. 8

The Golden People

Even though the nearest side in the room appeared to be a fifteen minute's walk away, they had reached it in less than five. Lina guessed that was what the Beastmaster meant when he said that everything was smaller than it looked. Xellos opened a door that everyone had not seen before, and lead them down a dimly lit hallway. No one really talked; after a few failed attempts, it was obvious that their guide wasn't going to divulge any more information. They reached another door, and he opened it, and motioned them to go inside.

Unlike the two previous rooms they had been in, this one wasn't quite so ornate. While it could still put any throne room in any palace to shame, at least this one couldn't be mistaken for an airplane hangar. A golden chandelier hung over a golden long table surrounded by golden chairs on a golden floor. In fact, everything in this room appeared to be some sort of gold. Even the people who bowed in front of them had golden hair and eyes.

"Welcome." The one in front, a woman with short hair and pointed ears said. "It is an honor to have the great Lina Inverse and her friends at our table. Come, sit, eat." She waved her hand in the direction of the table, where a great feast was placed.

Processing all this at once was a bit much for the redhead. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling very hungry anymore.

Pokota seemed to take it better than her. "Since when were you great?" He asked her.

She would have been insulted, if she wasn't thinking the same thing. _Me being an honors role student is one thing, but what did I ever do to get these guy's attention?_ "I'm not really sure…."

"My my. Now look what you've done." All of the golden people jumped back when they heard the chiding voice. Xellos came out of the doorway, shaking his head and making a 'tisk tisk' sound. "You've overwhelmed them. They aren't used to servants, or feasts, or any of these… extravagants."

He was still smiling pleasantly, but that did little to comfort the golden people. "Well, um…" The woman in front said, with some hesitation now in her voice. "The gods… thought…"

"The gods thought?" His smile grew wider. "That's news to me!"

He was obviously just kidding, but anger flashed in the golden people's eyes. Xellos strode over to the table, either blissfully unaware or just simply ignoring their glares. Lina and the others followed behind them, not really sure about what was going on. "And what's this?" The Beastmaster asked, looking over at the feast. "I don't recognize half of these dishes. Is this supposed to be a joke?"

Now that they were close enough, the six teens could see what exactly what was being served. It must have been the weirdest matchup of foods they had ever seen. Pizzas were placed next to meals fit for kings, and plates of lobsters and steaks sat next to McDonald's happy meals, complete with the toy. It was like a mix between the most common of fast food places and the most expensive of restraunts, all on one table.

Someone else answered the Beastmaster this time; a young man this time. He gestured at the teenagers. "Most of the food on the table is from their world. The gods had thou- _figured,_ that something familiar would do them good."

"From our world?" Sylphiel asked. "What do you mean?" The others- sans Gourry, who had decided to dig in, realized that this was probably the key to figuring out what was going on. They waited anxiously for the answer.

The golden man just looked confused. He turned his head towards Xellos. "You mean he didn't tell you?" He asked, more to the Beastmaster than the teenagers.

The purple haired man just shrugged. "I was planning on keeping it a secret for a while. You know, for fun." His grin grew as the golden people started to object.

"But what I'm more concerned about," He continued, cutting both the golden people and some complaining teenagers off. "…Is that the gods haven't been keeping up with informing me. I hadn't known that Lina is still missing until I met her; but it seems that the gods knew, and even had the time to inform their servants and let them prepare. Quite rude of them, really." He opened his right eye, to look squarely at the servants, "We're on the same side now. You might want to remind them of that."

The servants shrank back in fear at the Beastmaster's gaze. Lina heard one of her friends gasp. "His eyes…"

"Now, off with you!" Xellos closed his eye and motioned his hand at the golden people, as if they were a bug to be shooed away. "You've all done enough for today. Scat!" At least three of the golden people ran out of the room as if their lives depended on it. The rest hesitated, and the Beastmaster frowned. He looked over at the feast again. "This is quite the wide selection of food here. Ah, but I think it could be improved. Some dragon cuisine would really make it complete…"

And with that, a look of sheer terror crossed the remaining golden peoples' faces, before they too ran out of the room. Xellos went into a giggling fit, and the six teenagers were more confused than before.

"…What just happened here?" Pokota asked.

"Who knows." Zel answered, as Amelia stomped angrily over to the giggling man.

"That was really mean of you, scaring them like that." She scolded him. "They were just trying to be helpful."

The Beastmaster stopped snickering, and looked at her with closed eyes. His humongous smile dimmed a little. "They would have been afraid of me no matter what I did. Now then, there's your feast- all I ask is that you let me enjoy mine."

Amelia blinked at his answer. She thought for a moment, before gasping. "You don't eat them, do you?"

"What?" He was taken aback by her question. "No, I don't. I wasn't serious when I mentioned dragon cuisine. Besides, it tastes a lot better when made with lake dragon, rather than golden dragon."

If they were in an anime, they would have sweatdropped. Amelia blushed a little, and backed up to hide behind Zel.

Zel rolled his eyes, before speaking. "So those people were dragons, too. They didn't look much like Cadan." He said, referring to the golden people's lack of horns.

"That's because there's a difference in species." Xellos answered him. "The dragon you met earlier is a black dragon, and the servants you just met, the golden dragons, are much more adept at magic than other species, and thus, have a more convincing human appearance."

Zel blinked, and nodded slowly, taking this new information in. Gourry finally peeled himself away from the feast, a chicken wing in his hand. "So, are you a dragon?" He asked the Beastmaster.

He frowned. "No, I am not."

Gourry blinked. "Oh. Well, I figured you must be a purple dragon or something." He was oblivious to the Beastmaster's sudden eye twitch, and just continued, "Because I don't think you're human."

Xellos, for a moment, looked shocked. Then he smiled, "Figured it out, did you?" He said, his voice sounding even more cheerful than before, "This is the second time you did."

Lina took this moment to finally step forward. Ever since Xellos' talk with the golden people, she had hung back from the group, trying to piece together the hints and clues that she had been given. She finally had a guess as to what was happening, but she didn't like it. Every part of her being was telling her that it was impossible, but then again, she had already been faced with so many impossibilities today. She stopped in front of Xellos, and he looked at her expectantly, as if he already knew what she was going to say.

She took a deep breath, hoped she wasn't jinxing herself, and said, "I think I know what's going on."

* * *

_Fun fact- I've been grouping these chapters into sections. Cadan's appearance was the start of section two, and this chapter was the start of section 3._

_Speaking of Cadan, he should be returning next chapter. Along with Sirius. And quite possibley a new OC, who I am still not sure I want to introduce. Hnn..._

_Good news, I've figured out that one huge plot hole that's been bugging me. But it means that Xellos is going to have a bigger role than I had originally planned. Of course, seeing the reaction he got when he appeared, I'm guessing that you'd all like that..._


	9. The Time Has Come

_...Xellos hijacked my story. He was supposed to be such a minor character... now I feel like he's become as big as my main. Gah._

_This chapter was, literally, finished last minute. Pus I feel like I'm going to fall asleep right here and now. So it's probably good to guess that it's riddled with errors. Hey, at least I updated._

_My gosh, I'm so tired. I don't own Slayers. Yeah._

**_EDIT: PFFT THIS CHAPTER SUCKS! Just... bear with it, alright? I'll fix it, when I can get those creative writing cells in my brain working again. Summer vacation killed them._**

* * *

Almost Lina

The Time Has Come...

The look Xellos had was one of someone who knew a secret, but wasn't telling. Which was annoying, as Lina had finally convinced herself that she had figured everything out. "So you know." He said, his grin growing. Lina wished that he didn't look so amused, but punching him in the face after he scared off a group of golden dragons without so much as lifting a finger might not be the best idea.

Behind her, her friends were looking at her with curiosity, but a definite lack of awe or anticipation.

"You all don't believe me?" She asked, annoyed.

Pokota shrugged. "I gave up trying to figure this out a long time ago. My guess is that I got hit on the head too hard in the car crash."

"That was actually my guess too." Zel coughed, looking rather embarrassed. "It's just hard to imagine that this is all, well, real."

"An interesting theory, but not true." Xellos spoke up. "What do you think, Miss Green Eyes?" He directed the attention back to Lina.

She knew what she was going to say was crazy, but she said it anyways. "We're in a parallel dimension, aren't we?"

Behind her, someone snorted, and she heard a distinct "Eh?", but her attention was on the Beastmaster. She was hoping for some sort of reaction, but his smiling expression hadn't changed at all.

"Oh?" He pulled up a chair, and sat down. "And what brought you to believe that?"

She hesitated. This wasn't the response she was expecting. "It's not true?"

"There's no way you could know all of it, but I do want to hear about what you deduced." He responded, in an encouraging tone. "What made you think that?"

Her heart lifted a little. The way he dodged the question led her to believe that she wasn't that far off. Unless, of course, he was just leading her along to make a fool out of her. He seemed like the type of person who'd do that. "Well, after you came out of nowhere, you started talking like you knew me. And when I asked you who you were, you said I wasn't me."

"I didn't say you weren't you." Xellos interrupted, his smile now gone. "I said you weren't Lina."

"Exactly! You and Cadan were both acting like we were someone you knew, and freaked out when you learned we weren't." She ignored Xellos' complaint of 'I wasn't freaking out!' "You said that I died. My guess is, there was a version of us in this dimension that you knew. And something happened to them.

"You also made a comment about… about liking my old eyes better." She shuddered slightly, remembering the red-eyed Lina. "The other version of us… we were supposed to be their replacements… weren't we?"

"More than just replacements." Xellos finally said. He was looking down at his wrist, where a large talisman, silver in color with a blood red jewel, was securely fastened. "You were meant to be their new bodies. You're dimension is different from ours in the fact that you have magical capacities, just as large as our world's, but no magic. It would have taken us too long to find other bodies with that for them, and there were… complications in giving them a doll or something else to inhabit." He chuckled, but there wasn't any humor in it. "It seemed like the quickest option at the time."

"…What are you saying?" Sylphiel asked, fearfully.

"What I'm saying…" Xellos looked up at them, eyes open, and his smile gone. "…Is that in order to get the Slayers back, we were going to kill you and give them your bodies. Pity it didn't seem to work." He gave a tired sigh. "The gods really do muddle everything up, don't they?"

The teenagers were shocked. Lina felt nauseous.

A loud crash was heard behind them, accompanied with an even louder 'Squawk!' Everyone jumped up in surprise, except for Xellos. He just moved in the chair a little to look around them, and chuckled. "Speaking of muddling things up…."

On the floor behind them, groaning, with his face on the ground, was Cadan. Sylphiel and Amelia rushed towards him, what the Beastmaster had said forgotten for now. They helped him up, careful of his wings. The other teenagers came towards him, but not until after giving Xellos a sideways glance.

"Sorry." He muttered. "Human form… rather clumsy."

"That's an understatement." At the amused voice, Cadan looked up at the trickster, who smiled cheerfully and waved. He squawked again, and tried to hide behind Lina. The others had to laugh at that; the dragon was twice as big as his living shield.

"Hey now!" She yelled at him. "You're too big for that!"

Cadan looked at Xellos in sheer terror. "Dragon Slayer…." He whimpered.

Lina blinked. "What?"

Xellos frowned, before standing up. "You know, I never really liked that title." He then smiled at the scared dragon. "But we're on the same side now, so you don't have to worry."

Cadan just shrank farther back behind Lina.

"He's right, Cadan. There really isn't a reason for you to fear him anymore." A cynical voice said from the doorway.

Xellos' smile completely disappeared. Everyone turned to look at the new arrivals. Amelia spoke up first. "Who are you?"

* * *

_...Oh dear. I was so close to getting them in, too. Aw well. Next chapter._

_I'm extreamly tired right now, and i can barly keep moving my fingers, so I may as well end this AN now. peace._


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